Thursday, 11 October 2018
Long Beach
At last we had time to do a project that had been weighing on my mind: dig out the wire vine, Muehlenbeckia axillaris, from the planter in front of Stormin’ Norman’s.
I planted it years ago, thinking it was a cute little trailing house plant that would not make it through the winter. After a very few years, it had done this:
It had been cute and then had gone suddenly berserk.
We dug it out, but did not take all the soil out because we thought we could control any wire vine that popped out from pieces of root. (And oh, how we had tried to sift through and get all those pieces.)
Today:
The wire vine has returned throughout the planter despite semi-diligent attempts at control.
We were incredibly lucky during the digging out stage to get a parking spot right next to the planter.
Before:
After all the plants were out, as Allan removed the soil in the wire vine planter, I pulled the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ from the next planter.
Most merchants don’t like tall plants in front of their shops. The Wind World Kites guy loves the crocosmia and jokes that he now has nowhere to hide.
After much digging and removing all the soil and the tattered years-old landscape fabric that separates soil from gravel, we found roots down IN the gravel. This is ominous.
We hauled the heavy debris to city works and dumped it in an inhospitable spot and returned with buckets of the last of the mulch pile and some landscape fabric from the works shop. It was utterly exhausting, heavy work, especially because this time we had to park half a block away and haul everything
My back was panging, so I answered some garden questions while standing straight against a wall. Part of the job is to be friendly to tourists.
The woman in blue was from England and had lived there till 1958. I asked her if she had heard of garden writer Marion Cran. She had not.
I had had rather a stroke of genius; we also brought the last two hanging basket innards and used that soil to extend what we had.
Allan deadheaded a block worth of planters while I re planted.
Upon his return, the planter was done. Many bulbs were also replanted.
Last week:
Today, after:
I was able to salvage all the perennials by carefully inspecting their roots. I will be watching closely for any sign of wire vine emerging from them; if it does, out they will come.
Across the street is a planter I quite like (even though the matching santolina was stolen).
I used the pink gaura to replace the bad agastaches in the Agastache Catastrophe (a batch with diseased leaves). The gaura has been good and has bloomed longer, with no deadheading, than the agastache does. I will use it again next year, along with perhaps the shorter white one, ‘So White’.
After our project, we deadheaded and tidied a few more planters.
I love the chrysanthemums that have perennialized in some of the planters. They take up too much room to have them in every one.
The Shelburne Hotel
We had time to tidy up the back garden at the Shelburne. Chef Casey had found akebia fruits on the south fence. I sought them out under cover of the vine.
(I did try it a couple of days later. The insides have a sweet pulp that is so full of seeds that there is little food to offer.)
The beans in pots are well past their prime.
I picked off some moldy old beans….
…and then realized I remembered the hotel’s Halloween event and realized I should leave them till after Halloween. I then decided to leave the old Joe Pye Weed and some other plants to add a spookier ambiance to the front garden.
“Get ready to sit, sip, and talk to the spirits at the Shelburne Hotel. Will be having Chariot reading Tarot cards by appointment (starting at 6pm on 10/26), Adrift Distillers Amaro release (10/27 from 5pm-7pm), seasonal cuisine, and cocktails that represents the spirits at the hotel.
Will be playing the Shining in the Inglenook both nights as well.
COSTUMES ENCOURAGED.
So join us for our haunted gathering at the Shelburne. Dine and drink with the ghost…maybe even say hello?”
The Shelburne’s sister hotel, Adrift, suggests something about a ghost in the garden!
Hmmm. I’m not saying whether or not I have ever seen Annie May in the garden.
Halloween is a good reason to leave the long, draping wisteria till November before a preliminary pruning.
We rewarded ourselves for an exhausting day with a tasty meal and drink in the Shelburne pub.
As diners arrived at the pub, Brian O’ Connor began to sing, as he does every Thursday. You can sit in the living room to listen and dine, or sit in the pub with the music as ambiance.
His deep and distinctive voice has an emotional quality that draws a regular audience on Thursday nights.
We heard part of the performance during our relaxing meal.
The bartender and I agreed that even though we are not usually fans of fried chicken, the version offered at the pub is delectable. (I get it as a side on the salad.)
My favourite dessert on the peninsula these days is the pub’s cheesecake tart with blackberry topping.
On the way home, we checked out some Halloween decorations in Ilwaco.
We have accomplished all our little work board projects other than mulching.
I enjoyed the partial emptiness for a moment before adding Bulb Time.
Tomorrow, the bulbs come and the sorting begins, a rather dreaded task that hurts my brain.
Those Halloween decorations are wonderful! I’m getting worried about that wire vine. It’s likely spreading underground now and getting ready to spring up all over town to engulf it. But this is just the usual Halloween jitters I’m sure . . .
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See my comment to Debra!
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I see that cute wire vine in mixed containers at the grocery store. I had no idea what a monster it could become. (Note to self–never plant wire vine!) I love the chrysanthemums in the planters.
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I think it’s beautiful. I had it in an outdoor container and it snuck out and got into the ground. I’m still pulling it out!
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:-O
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You are lucky (skilful) to have so many flowers still looking colourful.
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I credit our maritime climate.
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Is it customary for halloween decor to be not just installed, but all lit up so early? You can see decor up early here but no one ever turns on lights until halloween night. Is it an Ilwaco thing?
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Yes, it’s very much an Ilwaco thing 😀
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And we’ve seen some up in Long Beach, too.
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Akebias became popular in the Santa Cruz region a few years ago. I have never seen one develop fruit.
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I have never seen the fruit before. Amazed how big it is.
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Yes, and it is weird looking too. I have seen it only in pictures.
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